I agree.  I do not know how a scratch ticket looks, but if there is a word under each digit, than that word prevails. 

Which brings to mind this rule on legal construction:  In case of  discrepancy between a digit and a word, the word prevails.  For example, if the printed digit looks like a '6' but under that digit, the word 'eight' is printed, than 'eight' prevails.

Yes, csfb, I realize that's the case.  It's like writing a check.  The numbers need to match what is written out beneath "Five hundred sixty-three and 25/100 dollars"  after you fill in  $563.25

But my comment was in response to the fact that nobody seemed to notice they missed a tiny spot until the ticket was put under a microscope.  As others have written, can you imagine getting your photo taken with that big check and celebrating, only to find out you didn't win?  I need to read this article again, since I don't see anything about not matching the word, just about finding a microcopic piece of latex on the number.  One would assume that the Lottery would have scratched off the letters before congratulating the Whiteheads, no???

EDIT:  Okay, just read the article again.  NOTHING about the letters beneath the numbers is mentioned.  It only says:

The commission sent the couple a letter: Verifying winning numbers "does not rely on eyesight," it said.

To me this statement is ridiculous.  What else can we rely on then?  Do we need to own a German Shepherd and teach him to sniff out winning tickets?  If the Lottery Commission wrote "the word underneath the number needs to match the number" it would make a lot more sense, but I see no reference to this at all.  Like the Whiteheads, I would want to be included in the validation process, at least be present. It just doesn't sound kosher to me. You hand your winning  ticket  to someone who then walks to a room in "the back."  If they said "Oh, you got too excited and didn't check carefully" I would agree.  But that's not what this article is saying at all.  They're saying the claims were completed, pictures were taken and it took 2 scannings to verify that one of the numbers wasn't quite right. 

Is this an alternate reality? You gotta be kidding me.  There is a barcode on the back of the ticket that is scannable ANYWHERE (in the state played).  As a matter of coincidence I walked in behind a 1 million dollar scratcher winner going to play my numbers Wednesday night.  How did we know? Just like every scratchey winner the clerk scrathes off to reveal the number code, which they key and then scan the barcode into the terminal and it verifies the prize with a print out.  The print out said Top Tier Winner must collect at lottery headquarters. Any state that doesn't have this type of system should  not be played. That has to be the most pathetic story I have seen in awhile I don't believe it, someone is pulling our chain. It is the same for a $1 ticket as a $1,000,000.00 ticket.

This the key sentence:

"Afraid to rely on their old car, they took a cab to Raleigh. While at the Lottery Commission on May 2, the ticket was put through a computerized validation process. Nobody told the couple about the validation." Randolph said.

 These people had convinced themselves without checking it at the place they bought it.  This is called "Winning the lottery Munchausen by proxy syndrome" 

This story is fabricated, made-up slow news night news, another school project. If not fake, those  lottery retailers and officials should be fired and investigated for incompetence, stupidity, fraud and keystone syndrome.  I would also demand a top to bottom evaluation of the entire lottery organization, administration, and board by a independent third party auditor/accountant.  The whole thing just sounds bad for the NC lottery, there is an agenda in there somwhere by someone.

This would never happen in MD., DC, VA.

LOL jarasan

Here they are the NC lottery guys .

P.S. Ask me how I really feel.

I agree. 

The article doesn't say anything about looking at the ticket with a microsope, though that would be a pretty obvious, and perhas the first, forensic technique in the event that there is any question about the authenticity of the ticket. My guess would be that when the guy said there was a "microscopic" piece he simply meant it was a very small piece. As far as the statement about not relying on eyesight, the validation process is to make sure that what looks like a winning ticket really is a winning ticket, and that's done by checking the barcode to see if that ticket is listed as a winner in the official database.  There's nothing complex or ridiculous about it, and there's no reason that players should be involved in the lottery's standard security procedures. The article also says clearly that the first scan indicated a problem. The second was simply to confirm that the first one was accurate, and probably isn't any different than sometimes having to swipe your credit card twice to have it read correctly.

These people didn't scratch off the concealing layer enough to properly read the ticket, and that's all there is to it. Other than the lottery officials congratulating them before the validation process was completed this isn't any different than checking the winning numbers in the newspaper without your glasses andmistaking one number for another.

I am guessing this is what happened, the barcode when read gave a different string of numbers than under the barcode. The ticket agent probably punched them in manually and not scanned the barcode itself but the Lottery HQ did. I am assuming that is where the numbers didn't match? If it was in the play area itself then why didn't this come up when the agent scanned it??? I must be missing something. I do know that a lot of times they will put a number that looks almost like a winning number, i.e. if it says "46" in Your #s there's a spot that says "48" over a big amount so you get all excited when you start scratching it and you think it's going to be 46. If the ticket agent scanned the barcode and it said it was valid then there is something seriously wrong and everyone should boycott all scrach games unless they get paid what they should have.

UPDATE: I have found a video about this story at mms://wm.wfmy.gannett.edgestreams.net/news/052507_lottery_wfmy1.wmv and it turns out that there is NO barcode to scan in and the ticket they were showing on the News didn't have a "46" or "48" over the $250K so it must have been a different ticket being shown. Anyway it's possible in the string of #s if they are OCRed or hand-entered could turn a 6 into an 8 (but it would be extremely rare that it also matched a $250K winner in the database), but the report sounds like it was in the main scratch area (Your Numbers/Winning Numbers) - if so then how on God's Earth did it pass the "in your face" store validation?? Unless the agent didn't actually type in the serial #?? That would be very stupid, usually they make sure they do.

Thats really sad. I think the lottery comp should be pay them more because they should have mad sure before they take the people pictures. That must be really embarassing. They should be thought a lesson also.

lay away from the scratchers...

I sold 12 $10 tickets yesterday to one guy and he received NOTHING.. not even a ticket...

That is bad..  $120 in the trash in less than 20 minutes

Did they actually have the ticket validated in the store?  It sounded to me that they just hopped in a cab and went to the Lottery Commission office.

The scanned bar code trumps everything, as we have seen with the Florida snafu.

The lottery HQ should have verified before posing these people with the big check.

 Jarasan is right, the NC lottery operates like the Keystone Kops...

Me too, I prefer not to fool with them. But my hubby.... Oh baby! That's a different story.